An Unarmed College Football Player Was Killed By A Rookie Police Officer In Texas

Christian Taylor, a 19 year-old football player at Division II Angelo State University, was killed by police officers at a car dealership in Arlington, Texas on Friday night.

Taylor was a suspect after a 911 call had come in about a burglary in progress at the Classic GMC Buick dealership. Taylor allegedly crashed a vehicle through the glass at the front room of the showroom. Then, according to a statement given to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram by police spokesperson Sgt. Paul Rodriguez:

“The officers went and confronted him. There was an altercation. An officer discharged his weapon and struck the suspect,” Rodriguez said.

Taylor was pronounced dead at the scene, and police confirmed he was not armed.

The officer who shot Taylor has been identified as 49-year-old Brad Miller, who graduated from the Police Academy in March and was under field training. He has been placed on administrative leave.

Police in Arlington are implementing a body camera program for officers, but it has not been completed yet, so there is no video footage of the shooting, or the confrontation that led to it.

However, Rodriguez told the Star-Telegram that there is surveillance video of Taylor engaged in “criminal activity” before the shooting,  as well as the footage of Taylor allegedly crashing through the dealership’s metal gate, damaging a vehicle in the parking lot, and driving through the showroom glass.

Taylor’s family is suspicious of the events that led to his death, with his great uncle Clyde Fuller saying:

 “I think something is going on that somebody is lying about … They say he’s burglarizing the place by running up in there? Nuh-uh. Something doesn’t sound right.”

Cryptically, Taylor posted this tweet, less than two weeks before his untimely death:

Serena Williams also expressed her outrage about the killing on Twitter:

Taylor was going into his sophomore season at Angelo State, located in San Angelo, where he played defensive back.

(Via The Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

 

 

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